A Beautiful Mind Summary

The movie A Beautiful Mind involves a man named John Nash, who possesses an
extraordinary mathematics skill that has taken him through quite a journey throughout his life.
Though, the most notable part of his life was developing a disorder called schizophrenia.
During the movie I found it odd how often John Nash mumbled when he talks. His voice
seemed emotionless and flat. He also seemed to be socially awkward with people. Especially
trying to pick up girls. John Nash had believed that he was a secret agent and thought to have
obligations to honor. When John was in public, he felt like he was being watched constantly
either by the government or the Nazis. John believed that he was being tracked with a tracking
device. In his office, he was reading magazines, cutting out articles, and taping them onto his
wall. This wall became some type of crazed conspiracy that wouldnt have made much sense to a
normal person. I also found it weird how John would age over time but Charles would look the
same every time John would meet Charles.
Schizophrenia is a psychological brain disorder that distorts the way a person thinks,
expresses emotions, and perceive reality. The person will hallucinate, hearing voices that
would order the person to do things or warn the person of danger. Over time the person will
become delusional. Even when other people prove the person wrong, the person will still believe
the delusion and it will not change. Schizophrenia equally affect men and women. Symptoms
usually occur between the ages of 16 to 30. People who are over the age of 45 are unlikely to
develop this disorder. This disorder can be controlled through various types of treatments.
Treatments usually include antipsychotic medication and psychosocial treatments. The
medication treatment has two main phases. The acute phase where the doses are higher and are
meant to treat psychotic symptoms. Later, the maintenance phase occurs where the dosage

gradually decreases to the minimum required to prevent further relapse. The maintenance phase
is life-long. Psychosocial treatments, such as therapy, have developed to assist the suffering
patient. These therapies help patients to regain social skills, develop and strengthen cognitive
skills, and help the patient develop new strategies to manage problems. Although the disorder is
controlled, it cannot be cured. This factor may lead to unstable relationships.
John and Alicias relationship became rocky before and after Alicia finds out about Johns
illness. Before John was confined, John was hiding the secret mission from Alicia. Which in
turn builds a little desperation and mistrust from Alicia because she doesnt know what is going
on with her husband. After rehabilitation, Alicia becomes the primary caretaker for John due to
the fact that John is unable to perform tasks at home. Soon it becomes a challenge for Alicia to
take care of him and the baby and maintaining an income for the family. The intimate feelings of
love between the two becomes replaced with duty and responsibility. John starts to endure the
challenge of clarifying on whether the love between him and Alicia is actually real. Towards the
end of the movie, John is able to control his own reality and the relationship between the two
improves.
Overall, I would recommend this movie to future AP Psychology classes. The movie does
a good job of showing the viewer on what goes on in a schizophrenics life. Plus the interaction
between John and Charles is amusing.